Wilson seeks sixth term on county school board

Lauren Williams Staff Writer

February 18, 2014

Current Sampson County Board of Education member G.H. Wilson has made his desire to maintain his seat at the county school board table official, filing for his sixth term in office late Tuesday morning at the Board of Elections.

With wife Kathy there to support him, Wilson shared that, even with 20 years of school board experience under his belt, he isn’t ready to quit just yet. In fact, with a new superintendent at the helm of the county schools and with a new family member having recently entered the classroom, Wilson is as eager as ever to stay on the school board and remains highly involved in local education.

“We’ve hired a new superintendent and I’d hate to leave now and leave him and not be here to be supportive,” said Wilson, adding with a smile, “I’ve also got a grandson that just started kindergarten.”

Although such new developments contributed to his decision to seek office again, Wilson, a product of Sampson County Schools, himself, — as are his wife and two children — stressed that local education has always been something he’s had a passion for and in which he wanted to be involved.

“I’m really involved in the schools; I always have been my whole life. I love to advocate for the schools,” shared Wilson who graduated from Midway High School. “I really meant what I said earlier too (during the county school board’s Tuesday morning work session). I believe we (the school board) need to be a bigger advocate for the system. We’re probably the largest employer here — we’ve got some 12,000 full time employees — and we need to get more local monies. You would think we’d be one of the ones to get the most but we’re not. (With additional funds) we could hire local teachers, give the custodial staff and the lunch room workers a raise…it would touch a lot more people.”

And Wilson feels the current county school board is capable of advocating that strongly and effectively. Mentioning that he has enjoyed working with five superintendents and with several different school board members over the years, Wilson praised the current board and its efforts.

“I think we’ve got a really good board right now; we’re cohesive. We have our differences but we can settle them civilly,” the owner of Wilson Manufacturing pointed out. “We’ve been very blessed, especially over the last few years, and we have been able to move forward with our system.”

According to Wilson, much of that effectiveness comes from the board finding compromises and always striving to work together.

“We’ve always been able to come to an agreement,” he noted, adding that he is particularly proud of the board not just for collectively making decisions but also for collectively maintaining them. “We stand behind them.”

As he anticipates returning to his seat at the county school board table for another four years, Wilson expressed his thanks for “everyone who has ever voted for me and supported me” and called the community’s support and its votes to put him in office “humbling.”

Lauren Williams can be reached at 910-592-8137, ext. 117 or via email at lwilliams@civitasmedia.com.